Guide to Women's Collection
Introduction
By Harry F. Thompson, Director of Research Collections and Publications
The Center for Western Studies acquires archival materials from the
Northern Plains region, especially South Dakota and its six contiguous
states. Most collections, however, are obtained from within a one-hundred
mile radius of Sioux Falls, which includes southwestern Minnesota and northwestern
Iowa. Over the past twenty-seven years, the Center has attempted to acquire
documents that complement its core religious and educational collections:
the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota Archives, the United Church of Christ-South
Dakota Conference Archives (including the Riggs Family Papers), and the
Augustana College Archives.
Although the Center’s collections policy does not specifically mention
seeking collections created by or about women, the Center has acquired
over one hundred collections that document women’s history. For example,
the Episcopal archives contain a variety of materials by and about such
women teachers, missionaries, and church leaders as Mary Graves, Connie
Limpo, Gertrude Young, and Elizabeth Bradley, dating from the 1870’s to
the present. The Riggs family papers in the United Church of Christ archives
contain correspondence by the Riggs family of missionaries. Many of these
letters reveal the interrelationships that existed among the Riggs family
members, including women and children, as they administered Sioux Indian
boarding schools in central South Dakota and north-central Nebraska (ca.
1878-1920). Furthermore, the papers documenting the history of Augustana
College, which was founded in Chicago in 1860 by Norwegian-Americans and
moved to Wisconsin, Iowa, and then to South Dakota, contain materials documenting
women’s involvement in teaching and administration at the college and at
its antecedent institution in Sioux Falls, the Lutheran Normal School (1889-1917).
Among other significant women’s history sources at the Center are those
generated by the following organizations and projects: American Association
of University Women—Sioux Falls Chapter (1923-present); Changing Social
Patterns on the Lingering Frontier, interviews with second-generation homesteaders
in South Dakota (1965-1967); League of Women Voters of Sioux Falls (1953-85);
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1924-87); and the Old
Fort Thompson Project, photographs and records gathered by anthropologist
Betty Clark Rosenthal, including information about Ruth Jacobs Black Fire,
a Dakota Sioux woman. Collections of women’s personal papers include the
following: Anna Berdahl, nursing educator (1908-80); Katherina Blilie,
educator (1896-1969); Charlotte Carver, South Dakota Arts Council executive
director (1967-90); Fern Chamberlain, social worker (1922-93); Marie Christopherson,
journalist (1925-91); Winona Axtell Lyon, writer (1833-1944); Ann Mundelein,
writer, missionary (1889-1987); Edith L. Pierson, activist in church affairs
(1916-85); and Nellie Zabel Willhite, South Dakota’s first woman pilot
(1904-87).
There are, of course, women’s history sources in collections that do
not, otherwise, appear to be women’s collections. The Fred Farrar and Harold
Shunk collections contain numerous photographs of both Anglo and Native
American women in western South Dakota (ca. 1880-1920). Bishop William
Hobart Hare’s papers, in the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota Archives,
contain letters regarding the bishop’s accusations against the Rev. Samuel
Hinman for immoral conduct with Santee Sioux women. Some of Hinman’s papers
are found in the Episcopal archives, though most are in private hands.
As a project of her internship at the Center for Western Studies in
the fall of 1998, Jennifer D. Johnson, Reese Intern in Archives and Museum
Management, reviewed the Center’s collections and compiled the list of
women’s history resources found in this guide. Additional information about
the Center’s collections is available through the Center’s published guides
and through the South Dakota Library Network/OCLC. A sampling of documents
from the Center’s collections is accessible on the Center’s homepage (http://inst.augie.edu/CWS/).
For Further Reading:
Riley, Glenda. "The Historiography of American Indian and Other
Western Women." In Rethinking American Indian History. Ed.
Donald L. Fixico. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1997. 43-70.
[Schwartz, Alan M.] Guide to the Archives of The Episcopal Church
in South Dakota. Sioux Falls, SD [Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota,
1982].
---. "Religious Archives at the Center for Western Studies," South Dakota History 13 (1983): 261-64.
Thompson, Harry F. Guide to the Archives of the South Dakota Conference
of the United Church of Christ. Sioux Falls, SD: Center for Western
Studies, 1986.
---. Guide to Collections Relating to South Dakota Norwegian-Americans.
Sioux Falls, SD: Center for Western Studies, 1991.
---. "Historical Collections at the Center for Western Studies," South Dakota History 15 (1985): 234-42.
---. "The Riggs Family Papers at the Center for Western Studies." South Dakota History 22 (1992): 64-74.
Jeanette L. Amacher
Papers, 1901-1958
Items relating
to John Agrant, Sioux Falls Jeweler and his daughter, Jeanette, a writer
for RKO Radio Pictures in the 1930’s.
Gladys Amacher
Papers 1901-1969
Includes a
Sioux Falls Fair Program from 1946, correspondence from Lucy Hathaway Style,
and a photo scrapbook of the University of South Dakota and the Amacher
family.
American Association of University Women
Records, 1923-1993
Contains records
of the AAUW at the branch, state and national levels including newsletters,
convention programs, minutes, scrapbooks, procedural information, financial
information, reports, yearbooks, and other material regarding the work
and history of the AAUW.
American Indian Culture Research Center
Records, 1980-
The American
Indian Culture Research Center is located at Blue Cloud Abbey, near Marvin,
South Dakota. The records consist of information about the culture of Indian
people, collected by Father Stan Maudlin.
Edna Briggs Anderson (1884-)
Articles, January 1987
Small Collections
Consists of
two newspaper articles about Edna Briggs Anderson’s life of the Plains.
She was a Swedish immigrant whose family settled in Redfield, South Dakota.
Margaret Myers Anderson
Papers, 1977. 1 Item.
Consists of
a typed transcript of an interview with Anderson, a former teacher. She
reminiscences about Stanley county, South Dakota, 1907-1927.
Sadie Collins Armin
Papers, 1844-1983,
Sadie Collins
Armin is the granddaughter of Catherin Sager Pringle, one of seven Sager
children whose parents died on the Oregon Trail in 1844. The Sager children
were taken to Dr. and Mrs. Marcus Whitman at the Waiilaptu Mission in Oregon
where they witnessed the Whitman Massacre of 1847. The collection contains
Catherin Sager Pringle’s account of the Oregon Trail, the Mission, and
the Whitman Massacre. A photocopy of Catherine Sager Pringle’s scrapbook,
1851-1901, is also included.
Gertrude Arnaul
Papers, 1857. 10 letters.
Photocopies
of transcribed letters written by Arnault’s grandmother, Lucy Hathaway
Lyle, to her sisters in Massachusetts about pioneer life in Topeka, Kansas.
Lyle’s husband, Jabez, had moved to Kansas to help vote Kansas a free state
when it applied for statehood.
Association of Christian Churches in South Dakota
Records, 1914-1979. 1cu. ft.
Correspondence,
constitution, by-laws, minutes, audit reports, and annual meeting reports
for the following members of the Association (formerly known as the South
Dakota Sunday School Association and the South Dakota Council of Churches):
South Dakota Baptist Convention; Congregational Conference; Disciples of
Christ; Evangelical United Brethren; Episcopal District of South Dakota;
Dakota Conference, the Methodist Church; Presbyterian Synod of South Dakota.
Peggy Austin
Papers, 1977. 1 item.
Photocopy of
"A Look Into Indian Music," a report Austin completed as an independent
study project at Augustana College.
Gertrude Buchmann
Papers, 1930-1982. 5 in.
Contains information
about the Black Hills, the Rapid City public schools and teachers, the
history of Rapid City and miscellaneous newspaper clippings.
Arnold Bakken
Emigrant list, one item (25p).
Small Collections.
"Emigrant
List to America from Sokendal in the Period 1867-1925" is an inventory
of over 500 Norwegian immigrants to the Midwest. The list includes names,
occupations, ages, places of residents in Norway, names and relationships
of family members who also emigrated, ship name and destination, and date
of departure. Note: this list is in Norwegian.
Farlin Quigley Ball
Letters, 1859-1880.
1 roll microfilm. Reel #23, Item # 134.
Letter from
Ball, an attorney living in Madison , Wisconsin, to Libbie Hall, of Chicago,
concerning courtship and marriage. There are also letters from Ball to
Libbie Hall’s Father; F.W. Hall, and to Libbie’s brother Berty. These letters
date from the 1860’s. (See also Elizabeth Hall Collection)
Anna Berdahl
Papers, 1908-1980. 4 cu. ft.
Berdahl’s
papers concern her career as a nursing educator in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The collection also includes items relating to Sioux Valley Hospital, Augustana
Women’s Auxiliary, First Lutheran Church, Women’s Mission Federation, Crippled
Children’s Hospital and School Auxiliary, and personal papers.
James O. Berdahl
Papers, 1823-1976. 6 cu. ft.
Consists of
a variety of materials, including photographs, diaries, genealogy records,
and extensive correspondence regarding the Berdahl family and other early
Norwegian settlers of Minnehaha County.
Bertyne O. Birkland
Manuscripts and booklets. One folder.
Manuscripts
about Birkland’s Dakota Territory pioneer family, and A Genealogy of
John Tollefson and Kristina Larsdater Edisness (1974).
Katharina Blilie (b.1885)
Papers, 1896-1969.
One box. Diaries on microfilm.
Includes the
letters, poems, essays, sketches, and diaries (1906-1963) of Ketharina
Blilie. She served as a public school teacher, county superintendent of
schools, teacher training instructor at Augustana College, and General
Women’s Missionary Federation historian for the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Nils N. Boe and Family
Papers, 1932-1984.
1.5 lin. ft.
This collection
contains correspondence, photos, and personal papers of Lois Boe Hyslop,
a French literature scholar, Karen Boe, and the other members of the Boe
family.
Pearl Boe Collection
Scrapbooks, 1892-1982.
1.0 lin. ft.
Consists of
scrapbooks on the Presho Lutheran Church compiled by Pearl Boe, the Church’s
historian. Materials relating to the Hilmoe-White River, Vivian, and Kennebec
congregations are also included.
Nathan Brenneise
Genealogy, One item (90p).
Small Collections.
Contains the
manuscript, "Hardships, Blessings, Opportunities: A History of the
Brenneise Family".
Mabel Brodland
Family history and genealogy, 1872-1986.
Small Collections, two folders.
Contains the
family history and genealogical materials on the Gunderson, Larson, and
Gundmunson families. Letters between families written in Norwegian include
translations.
Bill Carlson
Typescript. One Item
Small Collections.
"History
of the Pattison Family," 1960
Charlotte V. Carver
Papers, 1967-1990
2.75 lin. ft.
Charlotte Carver
was the executive director of the South Dakota Arts Council from 1967 to
1988. This collection is a compilation of her papers from her service as
executive director. They include correspondence, speeches, appointment
books, committees and councils, conferences, publication and directories,
newspaper clippings, subject files, and photographs.
Fern L. Chamberlain
Papers, 1922-1993
3.0 lin. ft.
Fern L. Chamberlain
served as chief of the South Dakota Department of Public Welfare, research
and statistics, and with Lutheran Social Services. Her collection includes
correspondence, press releases, reports, a copy of "South Dakota Children
in Need of Special Care" (1922), an extensive scrapbook of newspaper
articles concerning Wounded Knee, and information regarding the welfare
system in South Dakota, organizations Chamberlain was involved with, and
publications relating to welfare issues.
Fred C. and J. Marie Christopherson
Papers, 1925-1991. 15 lin ft.
The papers
of Fred and Marie Christopherson document the personal and professional
lives of two of Sioux Falls’ best-known journalists and personalities.
The collection includes Marie’s medical bills and records, journals, personal
and household bills, the original "South Dakota Melody" composed
by Marie, her birth and death certificates, and many of her writings as
a journalist.
Changing Social Patterns in the Lingering Frontier
Research Records, 1965-1967. 6 cu. ft.
Contains transcripts
of 97 tapes of interviews generated by a nine-month pilot study, conducted
by William R. Wyatt and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, "to
measure and evaluate in dynamic terms the frontier attitude as it has existed
in South Dakota form the inception of settlement in the 1880’s and the
1890’s down to the present time." The study involved randomly selected
individuals from Minnehaha and Lyman counties in South Dakota. The responses
of individuals from three generations of inhabitants were recorded, and
transcripts of each interview were made.
E.T. Cressey and E.L. Schwartz
Report, 1912. 1 roll microfilm. Reel 5, No. 54.
A history of
the Baptist Women’s Mission work in South Dakota, 1872-1912, by Cressey
and Schwartz.
Delbridge-Northup Collection
Letters, 1861-1888. .50 lin. ft.
Includes family
correspondence during the Civil War. Some of the letters written by the
two brothers in the war are addressed to their sister Kate Northup. There
are letters written by Kate after the war.
Edith Mortenson Delman
Papers, 1900-1990
Details the
lives of pioneer families in Miner County, near Howard, South Dakota. Family
and social life on the prairie from 1910 through the 1930’s, one-room schooling,
and the Great Depression years are chronicled.
A.J. Dickinson
Papers, 1901
Contains two
poems by Dickinson of Chamberlain, South Dakota, "Pumpkin Pie"
and "The Wild Prim Rose."
Divorce Legislation in South Dakota
History (18p) Small Collections.
An article on the history of divorce legislation, or lack thereof, in Dakota
Territory and early statehood (author unknown).
Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota Archives
1870-date
Documents the
work of the Diocese of South Dakota, including the ministry of the Episcopal
Church to Plains Indians, called the Niobrara Field. Includes the papers
of the first bishop, William Hobart Hare, and all subsequent bishops, as
well as other clergy and lay people, including such women as Mary Graves,
Connie Limpo, Gertrude Young, and Elizabeth Bradley. Also includes the
church registers from closed churches and missions, photographs, and printed
materials. See Alan Schwartz in "For Further Reading."
Fred W. Farrar Photograph Collection
Photos
represent life in South Dakota in the early 1900’s. Farrar photographed
people, parties, babies, weddings, scenery, and events of his time.
Duke and Retta Ferguson
Video Interview, Two Tapes
First Baptist Church, Sioux Falls
Records, 1884-1912
1 roll microfilm. Reel #7 Item #71.
Records of
the First Baptist Church (1889-1912), the Mission Society book (1884-1894),
and the Ladies’ Aid Society’s papers (1890-1902).
First Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls
Booklets and album, 1900-1950.
0.5 lin. ft.
Includes an
album of circuit reports that document the activities of Lutheran Ladies’
Aid Societies in South Dakota.
Mrs. Oscar (Pethryn) Fladmark (b. 1896)
Consists
of personal and professional papers of Fladmark. She was the long-time
recording secretary for the Sioux Falls Sons of Norway Gjoa Lodge #65.
She participated in many Norwegian-American organizations, including the
local and district Sons of Norway lodges in Sioux Falls and Minneapolis
and the regional and national Sangerfests.
Flandreau Agency
Records, 1901-1903. 1 roll microfilm.
Census of Native
American Indians on the Flandreau Agency, South Dakota, 1901-1903.
Rueben Goertz Collection
Glass Plate Negatives
Consists primarily
of glass-plate negatives of German-Russians living in South Dakota in the
early 1900’s.
Mrs. Carol Greenfield
Reminiscence, n.d.
Photocopy of
Louise Estey Schambs’ recollection of her aunt Etta Estey Boyce (1862-1920),
a vocalist and music teacher in Sioux Falls and a cultural influence on
the area.
Fannie (Mrs.) Melvin Grigsby
Letters, 1920-1927. 1 roll microfilm. Reel #4 Item #45.
Letters written
to Mrs. Grigsby, widow of Col. Melvin Grigsby, from family members.
Col. Melvin Grigsby (1845-1917)
Papers, 1893-1914. 6 in. and 1 roll microfilm. Reel #4 Item #44.
Contains correspondence
of Col. Grigsby’s wife, Fannie Grigsby 1920-1927.
Albert H. Hagen-Phyllis Day Collection
Photographs, Stories, Biographies, Letters 1907-1941.
0.5 lin. ft.
Contains a
large group photograph of "The Norwegian China Mission Society 1891",
prints and negatives of "Children of 1973" school reunion, taken
1931-1941, copies of various stories about school children and teachers,
and Mrs. Hagen’s obituary.
Elizabeth Hall Collection
Letters, 1849-1883.
.25 lin. ft.
The Hall letters
are mainly written to Elizabeth Hall, from her father, from a Capt. William
N. Beer, and from her husband-to-be, Farlin Quigley. The letters show much
about life in the mid and late nineteenth-century America, particularly
the Civil War. For further information consult Civil War Miniatures:
Six Letters, 1862-1865, by Arthur Huseboe and Kathryn Welter (1986).
Claude A. Hamilton
Scrapbooks, 1982-1976. 1 roll microfilm. Reel #1 Item #81.
Includes "The
Prairie Girl," a reminiscence by Myra Hamilton Sears of Sioux Falls.
Hampton Institute
Records, 1892. One roll microfilm. Reel #16 Item #109.
Printed report
on Native American students returned from the Institute in Virginia in
1892. The Hampton Institute was a boarding school for young Native Americans
from around the country.
John L. Harrington
Papers, 1944-1972. 1.5. Cu. ft.
Newspaper clippings,
printed materials, reports, and manuscripts on the history and people of
Wyoming and Montana, particularly Cattle Kate and archeological findings.
Ralph O. Hillgren
Papers, 1954-1959. 5 in.
Miscellaneous
items relating to Norwegians in America, including a letter from Inez Rolie
Peterson, daughter of the first Norwegian settlers in Sioux Falls.
Freda Hosen
Papers, 1975-1976. 5 in.
Photocopy of
Hosen’s report on the sensational trial of Emma Kaufmann, the widow of
prominent Sioux Falls businessman Moses Kaufmann, who was accused of murdering
her servant girl in 1906. The collection also contains materials relating
to Jewish settlers in South Dakota.
"In the Valley of the Jim"
Narrative, 1951.
Photocopy of
a narrative recounting the history of the Dowell family, early Dakota Territory
settlers, written by "a daughter of the Pioneers."
Hildegarde Johnson
Newspaper article, n.d.
Photocopy of
an article about Miss Aagot Raaen, Steele County superintendent of schools
and author of Grass of Earth: Immigrant Life in the Dakota Country (1950).
Olaf M. (Bud) Jordeth
Photographs c. 1895-1905. 39 black-and-white prints. Letters (1918-1961).
Contains photocopies
of letters from Mina Jordeth Hellestad, missionary to China, and her husband,
Oscar (1918-1961) and reprints of photographs of people and rural scenes
in the Gettysburg and Lebanon, South Dakota, areas.
Evangeline Larson
Misc. items, 5 in.
Evangeline
Larson received her teacher certification from Augustana College in 1937.
The letters found in the collection from her father, P.E. Larson, to Evangeline
are revealing of the hardships associated with the Great Depression. Evangeline’s
diary is also a resource on the typical life of a female Augustana College
student during the late 1930’s.
League of Women Voters of Sioux Falls
Records: 1953-1985, Sioux Falls: Women’s Political Organization 6 in.
Printed materials
include newsletters, programs for annual meetings and conventions, member
booklets, The South Dakota Voter, Voter’s Guides, and various study
items, guides, and surveys. This last group covers such topics as taxation,
transportation, equal opportunity, and Indian affairs.
Lutheran Social Services Collection
Papers, 1952-1987. 2.0 lin. ft.
Contains papers
from Lutheran Church and Indian People of South Dakota (LUCHIP). The collection
also contains records about other functions of Lutheran Social Services,
including papers regarding Indian issues, and papers regarding the Sioux
Valley Conference of the American Lutheran Church Women (ALCW). Included
are minutes, the ALCW newsletter, conference officers lists, and convention
programs.
(Mrs.) Grace Engelbretson McBride
Family History, n.d.
Photocopy of
the history of the Thomas and Mary Engelbretson family, Norwegian settlers
in Foxton Township, South Dakota, in the 1890’s.
Ruth Granskou Mellem
Papers, 1910-1979 1.5 lin. ft.
Papers concerning
Ruth Granskou Mellem’s parents and family. The collection contains photographs
and photograph albums along with correspondence and other miscellaneous
material.
Marian Hansen Merrifield Collection
Letters, 1910-1916, photographs.
Consists of
correspondence between Alvin Hansen and Mabel Lewis when they met in 1909
to the time of their marriage in 1916. These letters describe small-town
life in the 1910’s.
Minnehaha County Cemetery
Burial Lists, 1895-1977. 1 Roll Microfilm. Reel #11 Item #80.
Photocopy of
burial lists, indicating date of burial, age, and cause of death.
Minnehaha County School District No. 34
Register, 1875-1886. Microfilm. Reel #5 Item #51.
School Register.
John Morrell and Company, Sioux Falls Plant
Records, 1911-1976. 2 cu. ft., 43 volumes, and 1 oversize vol.
Photographs,
negatives, printed materials, and scrapbooks of John Morrell and Company
since the construction of its Sioux Falls meatpacking plant in 1911. The
photograph collection consists of interior and exterior scenes of workers
and equipment taken for plant promotional purposes. Printed materials include
a set of Morrell’s Magazine (1945-1965).
Alden and Zedie Morrison
Diaries,1877-1899. Microfilm. Reel #4 Item #40.
Alden (1856-1896)
and Zedie (1870-1956) were the children of Charles and Elizabeth Ann Emerson,
homesteaders in Nobles County, Minnesota, in 1872. Zedie’s seven diaries
(1889-1892) record her domestic duties and her courtship and early days
of her marriage with Cyril Buyse, livestock dealer and butcher.
Edith Muecke
Publication
Fun, Fashion
and Common Sense (Vol.1, No. 1, Fall 1892), published by the Bee Hive
Dry Goods Co., Sioux Falls.
Ann B. Mundelein (1889-1987)
Papers, 1899-1987. 2.0 lin. ft.
From 1922 to
1933, Ann did evangelistic work in China, leaving because of the war. She
returned to New York City where she attended Church Training School at
Cathedral of St. John the Divine and became the Director of Religious Education
at Holy Trinity Church until 1935. Ann Mundelein then moved to Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, remaining until 1958. This collection consists largely of
correspondence and photographs. The letters are mostly written from Ann
to her sister, Clara M. Smith. The four photo albums are of many different
subjects, with identification lacking in some instances.
Arthur and Lil Norlin
Papers, 1949-1965.
Small Collections, One folder.
Includes articles
about Cora Stavig, who was named National Mother of the Year in 1964. Also
included are two transcripts of papers concerning mergers within the Lutheran
Church branches, one of which Lil Norlin authored.
The Old Fort Thompson Project
3 boxes
In September
of 1984, the Center for Western Studies undertook a study of the history
of Old Fort Thompson and its relationship to the region of which it was
a part: Crow Creek and Lower Brule Reservations, Buffalo County, Big Bend,
neighboring towns, and other reservations. The study attempted to contact
those who lived at the fort and around Crow Creek in the years before the
dams. These included members of the Crow Creek Tribe and also those of
other tribes who may have lived and worked there; it also included non-Indians
of government, mission, trader and ranch families in the area. Betty Clark
Rosenthal, who grew up with many of the Indian and non-Indian residents
at Old Fort Thompson, was the principal investigator for the project. Most,
if not all, of the materials in the present collection were gathered by
Betty Clark Rosenthal personally or donated to her by persons (Indian and
non-Indian) who lived and worked there. This collection consists mainly
of photographs of the Old Fort Thompson and Crow Creek areas. Many of them
are of people from these areas, and they range in date from the 1890’s
to 1984. The project was never completed by Rosenthal.
Donald Dean Parker (1889-1982)
Papers, 1897-1973.
14.5 cu. ft.
Contains copies
of South Dakota church newspapers and annual reports 1835-1854, 1867-1876,
1881, a copy of Lydia Hasting’s diary, and copies of various church records,
collected by Parker, a South Dakota State University history professor.
Evelyn Paul, Interview Collection
Five Interviews, 29 pages.
Small Collections, One folder.
Contains oral
interview transcripts of five interviews of Sioux Falls residents by Evelyn
Paul. Those interviewed are: Cleo Tyler, Florence Phillips, Christine Gaffin,
Minnie Murphy, and Byrdie Tillery Johnson.
Irma Person
Papers, 1903-1986
0.5 lin. ft.
Contains materials
relating to Person’s parents, the Reverend Richard and Emmy Tauber of Hosmer,
South Dakota. The collection includes written reminiscences, photographs,
a guest book, and a register of baptisms and confirmations (1903-1956).
Bessie Pettigrew
Papers, 1870-1976.
Documents,
correspondence, clippings, account books, record books, photographs collected
by Bessie Pettigrew, daughter of South Dakota homesteader F.W. Pettigrew
and niece of United States Senator Richard Pettigrew, relating to the Pettigrew
family.
Peder L. Phillips Collection 1800-1992
5 cu. ft.
Contains some
diaries and personal correspondence from Florence Anderson to Peder L.
Phillips.
Lester A. and Edith L. Pierson
Papers, 1916-1985
4.5 lin. ft.
Includes a
series on the Women’s Missionary Federation, 1923-1958, Edith Pierson Personal
series, and Subject Files series which includes, "Women and Their
Wills."
Vivian Ranney Raab
Letters, 1917-1918. Microfilm. Reel #5 Item #62.
Raab was a
member of the U.S. Army Sisters of Cheer, organized to send letters and
packages to First World War American Soldiers. The collection includes
her membership card, instructions, and letters from soldiers in response
to her letters.
Mel Ramsey
Booklets, 1946-1959, 1964, 1971. 22 Booklets.
Booklets from
the Sioux Falls PEO chapters and report cards of Barbara and Betty Ramsey,
1939-1943.
Helen Ransom and Eileen Bevick
Genealogy, One item.
Small Collections.
Contains "Genealogy
of Nils Nilsen Remmen and Gutorm Oldre" (1977).
Donald Reaves
Diary, 1936 (one item)
Small Collections.
This diary
was kept by an anonymous farm wife who apparently lived with her Norwegian-American
family on the shores of Lake Shetek, near Slayton, Minnesota. The entries,
from January to May 1936 show the daily life of a farm family during the
Great Depression.
Riggs Family Papers
1839-
Primarily correspondence
of the Riggs family of missionaries under the ABCFM. Of special note are
the papers of Stephen R. Riggs, early missionary to the Dakota, and his
two sons, Thomas and Alfred, and their wives. Thomas and Alfred managed
Indian boarding schools at Oahe, SD, and Santee, NE, respectively; their
wives participated in this work as administrators and teachers. Also contains
photographs, reports, and printed materials. United Church of Christ, South
Dakota Conference Archives. See Harry F. Thompson in "For Further
Reading."
Harold Shunk Collection
1861-1987
Contains correspondence
from family and records related to his employment with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Department of the Interior, 1933-1968, as well as an extensive
photograph collection, which includes photographs of his family, Pine Ridge,
Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Indian Reservations, Tribal leaders, and
old west figures.
Kathy Sinning
Report, 1977.
Photocopy of
Sinning’s report for an Augustana College course, "Folk Medicine:
Origins, Treatments, and Medical Purposes."
Sioux Falls Bicentennial Commission
Records, 1974-1977. 2 cu. ft.
Correspondence,
documents, clippings, printed materials, photographs, press releases, memos,
minutes and reports generated from its interaction with organizations in
the Sioux Falls area for the celebration of the American Bicentennial.
Among the organizations are the Chamber of Commerce Women’s Divisions,
Girls Club, American Association of University Women, and the League of
Women Voters.
Sioux Falls Oral History Project, 1976
176 Cassette Tapes.
Oral interviews
(without transcripts) with older members of the Sioux Falls community,
many of whom are of Norwegian Descent. This was a Bicentennial project
sponsored by the Voluntary Action Center and Aging Services Center.
Slektningene: The Hokenstad-Helmeid-Roesum Family History, 1625-1985
One Item (300p.)
Small Collections.
Comprehensive
history of three families contains history and maps of Norway, family group
sheets, stories of early family life, a generation chart, and an index
of names. Published in 1985 and co-authored by Etta Hokenstad Berge of
Marshall, Minnesota, and Lyle Berge of Pueblo, Colorado.
South Dakota Speaks: A Centennial Portrait
Interview Collection, Seven Audio Tapes.
Series of 52
radio features that deal with aspects of the changes in South Dakota during
its first 100 years. The stories were broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio
in a five-state area during 1989. Mark Steil did the Interviews. No transcript
is available.
South Dakota State Medical Association Collection
Records, 1883-1982. 10.0 lin ft.
Contains manuscripts,
minutes, legal documents, printed materials, clippings, photographs, scrapbooks,
logbooks, and tapes collected by the South Dakota State Medical Association
(SDSMA) as part of its centennial celebration in 1981. In 1985 and 1995,
additional archival materials were deposited by the SDSMA. These records
constitute boxes four through seven and include license registers, membership
registers, SDSMA minutes, annual meeting programs, SDSMA publications,
various copies of The Journal-Lancet, and other related materials.
South Sioux Falls (S.D.)
History (22p.)
Small Collections.
Contains a
short written history of the village of South Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Nellie M. Iverson, wife of former South Sioux Falls mayor, Sherman Iverson,
wrote it. For other information on South Sioux Falls, see Sioux Falls,
South Dakota: A Pictorial History, by Gary D. and Erick L. Olson; and Sioux Falls in Retrospect, by R.E. Bragstad.
Marie Knudtson Steen
Scrapbooks, 1886-1963. Microfilm. Reel #22 Item #133
Two scrapbooks
of the Steen family, containing letters, clippings, and photographs, collected
by Steen (1877-1963), born in Norway, wife of North Dakota homesteader
George Steen, and supervisor of the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce dining
room from 1917 to 1934. Many of the items in the scrapbooks are related
to activities of the Chamber of Commerce.
Eunice and Myles Stenshoel
Family Histories, Three items.
Small Collections.
Contains the
following family histories: Amund and Serine from Nesvag to Big Canoe,
Iowa, Ole og Kari fra Sogenfjord, Rockne Root and Branch, 1500-1978.
Bethel Thompson
Papers, 1940-1979.
.5 lin. ft.
Contains genealogy
charts, notes, journal, translation of journal, and manuscript. These materials
pertain to the Svendgaard, Torstenson, Uglem, Almaas, and Evenson families.
Richard Tomshack
Papers, n.d. 5 in. and 2 roll microfilm. Reel #13 and #15 Item #139
and #141.
Comprehensive
genealogical research of the Tomshack family, including pedigree charts,
documents, clippings, and photographs.
Myrtle Twedt and Family
Papers, 1864-1959
.5 lin. ft.
Collection
consists of genealogical material, immigration documents, a business ledger,
and other materials relating to the Seim, Esoeland, and Ellingson families.
The genealogy is from the Myrtle Larson Twedt family. There are materials
relating to Lucien Johnson. The immigration documents and other certificates
are from several persons. Also included is a centennial history of Elk
Point, South Dakota.
United Church of Christ South Dakota Conference Archives
1839-date
Documents the
work of the of the United Church of Christ South Dakota Conference and
its impact on the native and immigrant peoples of South Dakota and parts
of Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Manitoba. Records include personal
papers of missionaries, including Mary C. Collins and Mary A.C.L. Riggs,
as well as records of ministers, schools and churches. See Thompson in
"For Further Reading" or "Center for Western Studies In-House
Finding Aid The United Church of Christ South Dakota Conference (UCC)."
Gordon R. Waldron (1917-)
Family History and Photographs (12 items).
Small Collections, One folder.
Contains a
Family Group Sheet and photographs on the family of Gordon R. Waldron,
whose grandparents, Peter Nelson Wadron and Hattie L. (Gould) Waldron,
homesteaded in what is now Kingsbury County, South Dakota. The genealogy
traces the Waldron family to the year 1610, in Holland. The photographs,
most of which are identified, are of Waldron’s ancestors.
Martha Berdahl Wangsness
Paper, 1892-1975.
1.5 lin. ft.
Contains diaries,
correspondence, ledgers, clippings, and other materials relating to the
Berdahl family. Martha Wangsness was a 1902 graduate of Augustana College
and the wife of Herman Wangsness.
William (Bill ) Webster
Genealogy and Rowena (S.D.) history
Small Collections.
Contains a
history of the Wright family, "Heritage the Wrights Have Wrought,"
and items relating to the history of Rowena, South Dakota.
Kathryn Welter
Research Files, 1986
.25 lin. ft.
Kathryn Welter
was a 1986 graduate of Augustana College, where she majored in Music/German/English.
This collection constitutes the research she did for a Student-Mentor Project
in the summer of 1986 under the supervision of Dr. Arthur Huseboe. The
project involved a collection of letters, the Elizabeth Hall Collection,
which are letters written from 1849-1883 and involve much about Civil War-era
America. Kathy’s files include background research, correspondence, draft
manuscripts, and typed copies of all the letters in the Hall Collection.
A copy of the monograph produced from the project, Civil War Miniatures:
Six Letters, 1862-1865, is included in the collection.
Wentworth, South Dakota, Women’s Club
Scrapbooks, 1941-1960. Microfilm. Reel #15 and #16 Item #104
Five scrapbooks
recording the various activities and members of the club.
Nellie Zabel Willhite Collection
Papers, 1904-1987. 2.0 lin ft.
Contains the
papers of South Dakota’s first woman pilot. Born in 1892, Nellie Zabel
Willhite began flying in 1927 after her father gave her $200 to enroll
in a flight course through Dakota Airlines, Inc., at Renner Field in Sioux
Falls, South Dakota. These papers are an excellent source of information
regarding her days as a pilot as well as general information on early flying.
The collection contains correspondence, photographs, newsclippings, and
other material regarding the life and flying career of Nellie Zabel Whillhite.